EZ Pass for Motorhome with Toad

[Griswald One]

Hey All,

I am trying to figure out the EZ Pass system. The websites I have found are horrible. The NY site seems to indicate that the passenger transponder will not work for a MH.

What is the right transponder to get? Do I needs seperate one for the toad? Where should I go to order it?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

[Marcm157]

I called the ez pass service center and told them I need a tag for a pickup truck and a 2 axle trailer. I swap tags when I'm towing and not towing. They provide a special pouch that prevents the tag that is not in use from being read.

I tried doing it online but got nowhere. Person on the phone was very helpful.

[bansai]

I did the testing of our toll road pass system here in Colorado, my company built them. The sensors at the toll gate count the number of axles on your combined 'package' We charge you based on the axle count. Your tag will work fine on anything you attach it to. The tag doesn't know, or care what you are towing. The axle count will happen and the system will know if you are towing, or not, and bill accordingly.

We upgraded the system last year to enable 'tagless' use of our toll system. It works exactly the same except if you don't have a 'tag', we take a picture of your license plate, map that to the axle count for the vehicle, and send the bill to the registered owner. The electronic tag in the vehicle plays a very minor role in the system. It simply tells the scanner 'someone with account xyz just drove by, and they had 4 axles... add the appropriate charge to their account'... there is no difference in price other than axle count... we do charge more if a customer doesn't have a tag and we have to scan their license.. reason being we collect a smaller percentage of tolls owed from license plate pictures... sometimes the photo is illegible, or it's a bad plate and we get some freeloaders milking the reality of that system. Sometimes the system gets an undetermined axle count due to a number of factors I won't bore you with here... those are flagged and we have a few people on staff that review the video that was taken of *your* RV as it went through the gate and manually assess the appropriate toll. 99% of the time the system is 100% automated, end to end. My job was to make that happen I don't know if NY is using the same system, but almost every state is.

[TWP723]

I use the same pass, towing or not. They've never said anything and we're going on 10 years. I did notice price differences on my statement. Not sure HOW they know it, but they do.

[TWP723]

Orrrrrr...


Just read bansai's post! LOL

[Grumpy]

Originally Posted by TWP723

I use the same pass, towing or not. They've never said anything and we're going on 10 years. I did notice price differences on my statement. Not sure HOW they know it, but they do.

X-2 IL, OH, IN, NY, WV etc etc

[bansai]

If anyone is curious how the axle count system works, it's embedded in the roadway. It works the same as the ones you see every day at intersections that know your car is waiting at the red light, or those evil red light cameras. It's just a loop of wire really that detects when a metal object passes over it. It's a little more scientific than that, just think of a metal detector, it works pretty much the same way. Our induction loops are configured to detect perpendicular steel passing over it at a certain sensitivity level. The hardest part of find tuning the system was making it sensitive enough to detect a 2 axle motorcycle while not over detecting a triple axle garbage truck. You can fool the system, but it's against my best interests to disclose any of that

[RSerendipity]

So if I tailgate REALLLLL Close, the Vehicle in front of me pays my toll as their trailer

I have a PA EZ PASS and have traveled all over without Issue. I just got back from Maine and I see all the various States that we passed thru. NY, Mass, NH, Maine and the Bridge back to Pa. Had the 5ver and verified Tolls were collected OK in each State without issue.
in past year we traveled South with EZ pass to Florida & Back and in July to Colorado & Back. Verified toll were correct every time we had to pay.

[DocBrown]

I have an IL iPass. It doesn't care what car you use it in or if you're towing. So long as you register the primary cars. As said above they know when you are towing with a trailer. And to my knowledge besides the Tri-State tollway, it's accepted in most states that have tolls.

[bansai]

Originally Posted by RSerendipity

So if I tailgate REALLLLL Close, the Vehicle in front of me pays my toll as their trailer

If you can get within a few inches of his rear bumper at 75MPH, the system might give you a free pass, but it would more likely flag the transaction due to the unique signature tail gating provides. The victim would probably notice his bill was wrong, and we'd just pull up the footage and reprocess the bill.. The induction loop isn't just counting your axles, it's also aware that there is metal above it, and more importantly, when there isn't - there is 'background' noise from your hitch so we can tell when 2 vehicles are actually connected or not. The moment there is zero conductive material above the loop it resets and that happens in nano seconds. You would have to be literally parked in his a$$ for the system to not recognize the gap between 2 discreet axle configurations, all of which are easy for the system to count. If the system couldn't distinguish between a TOAD and a tailgater, we'd be out of business. Feel free to test it though, I have

[RSerendipity]

Feel free to test it though, I have [/QUOTE]

I'll take your word on it. Those days of "Testing" are behind me at this point. As they used to say you cannot out run the Motorola, Now it's Cameras everywhere.

[bansai]

Originally Posted by RSerendipity

Feel free to test it though, I have

"I'll take your word on it. Those days of "Testing" are behind me at this point. As they used to say you cannot out run the Motorola, Now it's Cameras everywhere.[/QUOTE]"

Well, when I say test it, I mean I was hired to test it We built the toll road out here and I had free reign. subtle difference.

[3'senough]

When I got the "blue" pass for my 5th setup I had to print out an application and mail it. The advantage is that the 5th setup gets a little discount off vs a TT. You're better off getting the right class out of the gate. Also if you have a cab over you might consider the bumper mount.

http://www.thruway.ny.gov/ezpass/ta-w68176.pdf

[Shultz01]

Pennsylvania EZ Pass had me get two transponders on a commercial account separate from my personal account. One for when I'm towing and one for when I'm not.

[Marcm157]

Bansai is the system you tested the same in all states? The reason I'm asking is I ended up with a violation (I'm a nys ez pass customer) for going through an ez pass only Lane while pulling my trailer. They said I needed a tag for a truck / trailer combo to be charged the correct toll.

[RAurand]

Originally Posted by Grumpy

X-2 IL, OH, IN, NY, WV etc etc

x3, PA, NJ
I use the same transponder in both my Camry and my Expedition (switch the transponder to where it will be needed). When I am towing the 28BHBE behind the Expedition, I use the same transponder. I always got billed accordingly when I had 2 axels or 4. I am not on a Commercial account either!
PA EZ PASS does ask you to register your vehicles and license plates of all vehicles using the EZ PASS. I have both my cars and the 28BHBE registered under the same transponder and have never had any issues.

[Robbbyr]

I have used the Illinois I-Pass for years and have the MH and Toads all listed on the account. I got it from Illinois before Ohio adopted EZ-Pass and have no reason to switch. I have traveled through most states here in the east that have toll roads and never had any issues whatsoever. I have traveled solo at times using the same pass and the systems do indeed count axles and charge accordingly. Rarely I think I may have been under-counted, never have I thought I was overcharged.

[pconroy]

Originally Posted by bansai

here in Colorado, my company built them.

So you're the one!!!

[bansai]

Originally Posted by Marcm157

Bansai is the system you tested the same in all states? The reason I'm asking is I ended up with a violation (I'm a nys ez pass customer) for going through an ez pass only Lane while pulling my trailer. They said I needed a tag for a truck / trailer combo to be charged the correct toll.

The system here is called ExpressToll, I'm not familiar with the NY system unfortunately. Our system doesn't rely on the transmitter tag in your vehicle to determine fees. It sounds like you guys are running an older generation system out there. We've done a lot of work in New York, but mostly subway related. Unfortunately due to the nature of public private partnerships, the state dot, and the local communities ability to vote on the regulations in any specific jurisdiction, there is no national standard on how tolls are charged. Im sure NY has a website where you can confirm the need to purchase a different tag. The toll road I'm familiar with here, is operated under a unique agreement with the state where we share the profit, run the toll booths, and built the highway. We set some of the rules, the state sets some.. At the end of the day people get to work on time if they have the cash to burn.


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[bansai]

Originally Posted by pconroy

So you're the one!!!

Guilty as charged im on the west side of town so I never take the toll road.. Rumor has it it's pretty cool though if you live in Saudi aurora